Hot coiler feeding means and method



Feb. 11, 1941. D. H. wAsgzBuRN EI'AL 2,231,400

HOT COILER FEEDING MEANS AND METHOD Original Filed Aug. 25, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS. DON/7Z0 li hhJHBuRN, [law/A, ,8, HuasoN.

q- ATTORNEY Feb. 11, 1941. D. H. WASHBURN ETI'AL 2,231,400

HOT COILER FEEDING MEANS AND METHOD Original Filed-Aug. 25, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTOR N EY Feb. 11, 1941.

D. H. WASHBURN ETTAL HOT COILER FEEDING MEANS AND METHOD Original Filed Aug. 25,1957

ATTORN EY 4 Sheets-Shet 5 ENTOR flwwuo H M la/15a 1941- D. H.'WA$HBURN ETAL 2,231,400

HOT COILER FEEDING MEANS AND METHOD ori inal FiledAug. 25; 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 R1 5' 3 R 1 R2 R I LL |NVENTOR 5.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 11, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT Donald H. Washburn and Edwin B. Hudson, Middletown, Ohio, assignors to The American Rolling Mill Company, Middletown, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Original application August 25, 1937, Serial No.

Divided and this application February 7, 1938, Serial No. 189,188

4 Claims.

This is a division of application Serial No. 160,895 filed August 25, 1937, now Patent No. 2,155,879 of April 25, 1939.

This invention relates to hot strip coilers for coiling strip'as it comes from the hot strip rolling mill. More particularly, our invention relates to a coiler having a semi-articulated forming hood for directing and guiding the strip into-coil form and for retaining the coil as it is formed, and for ejecting the formed coil onto a conveyor.

It is an object of our invention to provide a coiler of the type above mentioned which will be simple in its structure and inexpensive to build and maintain. Another object of our invention is to eliminate the conventional three-roll bending arrangement and to provide instead a two-roll device in which the rolls are especially shaped to add longitudinal stiffness to the thin gauges of strip.

These and other objects of our invention which will be pointed out hereinafter 'or which will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, we accomplish by that certain method and by that construction and arrangement of parts of which we shall now describe an exemplary embodiment. Reference is made to the drawings forming a part hereof, and in which:-- Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through the machine.

Fig. 2 is a partial section similar to Fig. 1 through a part of the machine showing the coil as it is being formed.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing'the manner in which the coil is ejected from the machine after it is wound.

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the pinch rolls showing the special formation stifiness to the strip.

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of the apron plate taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Briefly, in the practice of our invention, we provide, specially formed pinch rolls which feed the strip over an apron plate into the coil forming hood. These pinch rolls are shaped as will be described hereinafter, to impart longitudinal stiffness of the strip to prevent buckling. We pro vide a series of coil forming members, certain of which are actuated by the coil as it grows, and which through a linkage mechanism operate another coil forming member, so that as the coil which gives longitudinal grows, the coil forming members spread in a circular manner.

Referring to the drawings, the rolls i are the last rolls at the hot mill table which delivers the strip from the hot mill to the coiler. The strip I 4 is carried upwardly over a plate 2 to pinch rolls 3 and 4 which propel the strip into the coil from a region included within the segments it, I 6 and I1, and the carrier rolls I2 and I3, and the apron plate 43. The strip is fed upwardly into this space between the rolls l2 and I 3,and the coil as it is being formed rests upon the rolls l2 and I3, as may be seen in Fig. 2. The pinch rolls 3 and 4 are mounted in bearing blocks 5 suitably positioned in the housing window 6" of the side frames of the machine 6. An air cylinder I is provided for urging the lower pinch roll 4 against the upper pinch roll 3 through the linkage 8, 9 and I0. Since the lever arms 8 and 9 are both keyed to the shaft II which extends across the machine to the side frames 6, it will be seen that as pressure is admitted to the upper part of the cylinder 1, pressure is exerted on the roll 1. The pinch rolls 3 and 4 are suitably driven in any desired manner as are the rolls l2 and I3. The drive for these rolls is conventional and is therefore not illustrated. It may be noted that it is preferable to drive the rolls l2 and i3 at a slightly higher surface speed than the pinch rolls 8 and d. When coiling narrow strip of the thinner gauges there is danger of a cobble between the pinch rolls 8 and I and the back carrier roll i2, on account of the fact that the strip I4 is thrust into the circular path for forming the coil by means of rolls 3 and 4. This danger arises on account of the structural weakness of the strip at coiling temperatures. In. order to increase the structural strength to eliminate cobbling, we make the roll 3 convex and the roll 4 concave, as may clearly be seen in Fig. 4, thereby producing a concaveconvex strip in cross section whereby greater strength is imparted to the strip to enable it to resist the propulsion force imparted to it by the pinch rolls 3 and 4. In order to reduce the possible damage to the surface of the strip at points along the pinch roll surface where the surface speeds do not coincide, the clearance between the pinch rolls is increased toward their ends. It is desirable that actual contact between the pinch rolls be made within the region of the middle fourth to together and also a roller 15a at the end' of the apron plate '43 is also provided with a transverse curvature with a radius equal to R1 as shown in Fig. 5.

The coil forming segments are indicated at I5,

16, and". The segments I6 and H are hinged together at 29 and are supported by two arms I8 and 28 while the segment I5 is entirely independent of the segments I8 and I1 and is keyed to the transverse shaft 25. The arm I8 which is one of the arms supporting the articulated segments I6 and I I is keyed to the transverse shaft 59 and serves to actuate other partsof the mechanism, as will presentlybe described, while the arm 28 is pivoted about the fixed point 38. It will thus be seen that the arm 28 fixes the movement of the end of the segments II in a circular path about the fixed point 30.

, Also keyed to the shaft 59 is a gear segment I9 I which is thus actuated by movement of the arm I8. This segment meshes with the gears 20 and The gear 2| is keyed on the shaft 35 which also carries keyed to it the cam 22, which is adapted .to actuate the cam follower 36, which is mounted upon the segment I5. The segments I6 and I! are counterweightedby the weight 3| through the linkage 32, 33 and 34, the member 34 being pivoted to the gear segment I9. The segment I5 is connected to an air cylinder 23 by means of a lever 24 keyed on the shaft 25 which carries the segment I5. The follower 36 on the segment 'I5 is maintained in contact with its cam 22 by admitting low pressure air to the left end of the cylinder 23.

It will now .be seen that as the coil within the coil forming space grows, the segments I6 and I! which are counterweighted as above described, rests on the growing coil and are gradually pushed outwardly. As this occurs the gear segment I9 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction, whereby the gear 2I and the cam 22 are moved in a clockwise direction. As the cam 22 turns in a clockwise direction the follower moves tothe left because of the air pressure in the cylinder 23 and thus the segment I5 also moves upwardly.

In order to reduce friction of the coil against the forming devices, we provide a roller 29a at the point where the segments-I6 and I] are hinged segment I5. Furthermore, we provide for high pressure water between the segment I5 and the strip II by means of the nozzle 42. In order to eject the coil after it has been formed, the segmerits I6 and I7 are raised to clear the coil 31 by the admission of high pressure air to the lower end of the cylinder 21. The piston rod of the cylinder 2! carries the rack 26 which meshes with the gear 20, described above. Thus as the rack 28 moves upwardly the gear 20 is rotated in a clockwise direction and the. gear segment I9 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction, whereby the segments I6 and I1 are raised. At this point high pressure .air is admitted to the right hand end of the cylinder 23 which rotates the segment I5 in a clockwise direction causing the roller I5a to eject the coil toward the right. After the coil has been ejected the segments I6 and II are returned to their initial position by admitting air to the upper end of the cylinder 21 which lowers the rack 26, and through the above described connection lowers the segments I5 and II. The right hand end of the cylinder 23 is then opened to the asmosphere causing the segment I5 to return to its initial position.

The ejected coil rolls out onto the conveyor rollers 38 which are driven from the shaft 39 through the gears 40 and 4|. The member 60 is simply a wooden bumper to prevent the coil from rolling off the conveyor.

It will thus be seen that the segment I5 is held in position against the cam by constant low air pressure on the left hand end of the cylinder 23 and that the ejecting movement of the segment I5 is obtained by the admission of high pressure air to the right hand end of the cylinder 23 except during the ejection of the coil when the right hand end of the cylinder 23 is open to the atmosphere. The segments I8 and H are operated by the grow ing coil except during ejection when they are operated by the admission of air to the lower end of the cylinder 21, to raise the segments to clear the coil, and by the admission of air to the upper end of the cylinder 21 to lower them to their initial position. When the segments I5, I 6 and I! are in their initial position both ends of the cylinder2l and the right hand end of the cylinder 23 are open to the atmosphere. In practice the operations of these cylinders may be conducted from a control station by means of push buttons operating electric valves in any well known manner, and the cylinder 21, for example, may be operable by means of a limit switch to raise the segments I6 and I! when the coil is completed. It 'should be noted that during coil growth the coil itself is the sole means for actuating the segments I5, I6 and I1, and the coil is thus fully guided and kept in contact with the carrying rolls at all' times, and consequently the finished coil is perfectly round and tightly wound.

It is to be understood that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of our invention, and that we do not intend to limit ourselves otherwise than as pointed out in the claims which follow. i

Having thus describedhur invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a hot coiler, means for coiling the strip, in combination with strip feeding means comprising a pair of pinch rolls for temporarily transversely curving the strip, one of said rolls being bi-convex in axial cross-section, and the other being bi-concave in axial cross-section, the curvature of said second mentioned roll being constant throughout its length, and the curvature of said first mentioned roll being of a radius less than that of said second mentioned roll.

2. In a hot coiler, strip feeding means comprising a pair of pinch rolls for temporarily transversely curving the strip, one of said rolls being bi-convex in axial cross-section, and the other being bi-concave in axial cross-section, the curvature of said second mentioned roll being constant throughout its length, and the curvature of said first mentioned roll being compound, the central portion having a radius of curvature slightly smaller than the second mentioned roll, and the outer portions having still smaller radii.

3. In a hot coiler, strip feeding means comprising a pair of pinch rolls for temporarily'transversely curving the strip, one of said rolls being -bi-convex in axial cross-section,-and the other being bi-concave in axial cross-section, the curveture of said second mentioned roll being constant throughout its length, and the curvature of said first mentioned roll being compound, the central portion having a radius of curvature slightly smaller than the concave roll, and the outer portions having still smaller radii, said central portion comprising the central one-fourth to onethird of said roll.

4. A method of coiling hot metal strip which includes the steps of thrusting said strip into a coil forming device under power and concurrently imparting to said strip a temporary transverse curvature for the purpose of imparting thereto a longitudinal stiffness, and forming said strip into 5 a coil.

DONALD H. WASHIBURN. EDWIN B. HUDSON. 

